


Mara's Mercy

by LovelyLessie



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-19 03:56:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1454494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLessie/pseuds/LovelyLessie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vex doesn't do pretty, and she doesn't do parties. But maybe once, she can make an exception.</p><p>...Maybe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mara's Mercy

When she woke that morning it was to find a package wrapped in linen at the end of her bed. Still half-asleep she reached for it and clumsily pulled free the wrapping.

It was a pair of shoes: heeled slippers made of blue satin, embroidered with silver and glittering with sapphire and moonstone. 

Suddenly, she realized what day it was.

"Gods help me," she muttered, running her fingers through her hair. Her heart was pounding in her throat, and her chest felt tighter than normal. She took a deep breath and let it hiss through her teeth. Dammit - last night she’d been perfectly calm.

Last night she’d also been drunk, but that was beside the point.

She examined the shoes and leaned over to pull one of them on. To her surprise it fit, near perfectly. She started to smile, and slipped into the other one before stretching out her legs to admire the way the firelight shone on the gemstones. They must be worth a fortune, she thought, impressed, and wondered who had swiped them for her. 

Of course, she had better make certain she could walk in them. She swung her feet down to the floor and pushed herself up, testing her balance. It was odd to find herself a hand’s breadth taller than usual, and she wasn’t sure she liked it, but she was stable, and when she took a few steps she didn’t stumble.

"Vex?" called a voice from behind her, though she hadn’t heard the door open. She turned so quickly that it threw her off, and had to take a hasty step to catch herself.

It was Karliah, standing in the doorway with a faint smile on her face. “Hi,” Vex said bluntly, folding her arms. 

"The shoes look lovely," Karliah said.

"They’re alright." Vex twisted around, turning her toes so she could examine the other angles. "You do it?"

Karliah laughed. “Of course,” she said. “Do they fit?”

"Like they were made for me," Vex replied, and arched her eyebrows at Karliah, who only smiled serenely in response. 

"You’d better start getting ready," Karliah said. "Do you need help with your dress?"

"If I needed help I’d ask for it," Vex snapped, hunching her shoulders. "I can handle it."

"Then I’ll leave you to it," Karliah assured her, spreading her hands in a gesture of innocence. "The rest of us are in the cistern - I believe Sapphire has already dealt with the men."

Vex laughed. “Of course she has,” she said. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

—

Though she’d been fitted for it and held it up to see it, she hadn’t worn the gown yet. Putting it on, she found, was not a comfort - though it had been tailored for her specifically, she was certain it was in poor proportion to her narrow hips and long limbs, and the capelet that fastened over it felt awkward over her shoulders. 

"Mara’s mercy!" shouted Sapphire’s voice from outside the door. "Are you  _coming?”_

"No!" Vex shouted back, annoyed, and sat down on the edge of her bed. Clumsily-fitting clothes aside, she felt unwell; her heart was still jumpy and fluttering, and she couldn’t even  _think_  of having breakfast without her stomach doing flips. 

"Divines’ sake," Sapphire said, and threw open the door. "Why  _not?”_

"I don’t want to," Vex said. "I don’t know why I ever agreed to, and I’m not doing it."

Sapphire groaned.

"I’m  _not,_ " Vex repeated, folding her arms. "You go - go find Delvin, and - tell him he can give his amulet to someone else. I changed my mind, I don’t want to do it."

"Mm-hmm," Sapphire said dryly. "How come?"

"I don’t need a reason!" Vex yelled, and winced at the sound of her voice as it cracked and jumped up to a squeak. 

Sapphire put a hand over her mouth very quickly, but Vex could still tell she was smiling, and scowled back at her ferociously.

"I’ve got a bad feeling about it, is all," she said. "Thought of something makes you twitchy, it’s  _never_  a good idea.”

"Oh, because you’ve  _never_  gone ahead with a heist that made you nervous,” Sapphire said. 

Vex wanted to refute her, but couldn’t find a satisfactory argument. “Besides, this dress is awful anyways,” she said instead. “It’s awful and I look awful in it.”

Sapphire made a noise like a smothered scream and turned around, throwing her hands in the air. “You are  _unbelievable!”_ she said.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about!" Vex shouted after her as she stormed out of the room. 

She was gone for all of a few seconds before she returned, and brought with her Tonilia, Zosia, and Karliah.

"Uh," Vex said.

"You’re as stubborn as a Nord," Zosia said, shaking her head, and grabbed Vex’s arm. "Come on, let’s get your hair ready; it’s a mess."

"I - don’t - want," Vex managed weakly as they half-led and half-dragged her into the cistern, but she didn’t bother to resist them.

—

It was Karliah who ended up doing her hair, because Zosia threw up her hands in despair and surrendered halfway through brushing it out. “Maybe everyone  _else_  will cooperate,” she said, and set to work on Sapphire’s hair instead.

Karliah was more patient, to no one’s surprise, and quite calm as she finished combing the tangles from Vex’s hair and set to work on the braids. “This will look much nicer if you hold still,” she said. 

"Ugh," Vex muttered, but tried her best to keep her head in one place.

"Did you get the gleamblossom, Ton?" Zosia asked casually. 

"Yep," Tonilia replied. She was brushing out her own hair, though it was so thick it made little difference. "And everything else, of course."

"Flowers?" Vex asked, wrinkling her nose. 

"Yes, flowers," Zosia said. "For decoration."

"Huh," Vex replied scornfully.

"Mostly deathbell," Tonilia said.

That, Vex decided, made it significantly better. 

"If you move your head, you’re going to get hurt," Karliah said suddenly, in her usual cool voice. 

“ _What?”_  Vex asked, though she didn’t dare turn to look at Karliah.

"By the pins," she clarified. "Stay still; it’ll only take a moment."

Vex rolled her eyes, but she sat very still while Karliah pinned her braids into place. 

"There," Karliah said. "Now the circlet."

"I don’t want a—" Vex began, to no avail, as Zosia grabbed a silver circlet from the table and put it on her. 

"Let’s see," Karliah said, and rose to take a look at her handiwork. " _Perfect.”_

Vex felt her cheeks heat up.

"Show her," Tonilia said, grinning. "Where’s a mirror? Let her see."

"No, no, not yet," Zosia said. "Makeup first."

"What if I don’t want any," Vex said, but no one was listening to her, and she didn’t have the heart to fight them. Resigned, she sat through Sapphire painting her lips pink and her eyelids blue as midnight, and darkening her lashes, and highlighting her cheekbones, until at last she sat back, content.

“ _Now_ you can look,” Zosia said, and held up a silver hand-mirror so Vex could examine her face.

She looked -

"Oh," she said, and swallowed.

She looked  _stunning,_  though to save her life she couldn’t explain why. She took the mirror and held it away so she could look at the dress, which was not nearly as unflattering as she had thought, and in spite of herself she started to smile.

"I guess you did good work," she admitted to Sapphire and Karliah. Sapphire rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"Are you ready?" Zosia asked.

Vex laughed a little harshly. “Well, not really,” she said, “but it’s not like I’ll be more ready any time soon.”

—

At the doors of the Temple of Mara, she felt differently entirely. 

"I can’t," she said, digging in her heels. "I changed my mind again. I can’t do it."

“ _Gods,”_  Sapphire groaned.

"If you really want to back out," Zosia said, "you can do it when Maramal asks for your vows."

"And let  _everyone_  see me lose my nerve?” she asked, staring. “No, thank you!”

"Skipping the ceremony makes you look as much like a fool," Karliah said gently.

"And a coward," Tonilia said, with no such tact.

"I’m not…" Vex protested weakly, but she  _knew_  they were right. Dammit, they were right - she couldn’t turn tail and run now, of all times, on the day of the ceremony.

And she wouldn’t stand for being called a coward.

"Okay, fine," she said instead, and lifted her head, her hands curling into fists. "Let’s get this over with, then."

Setting her shoulders in a valiant attempt to steel her resolve, she reached up and pushed open the doors.

—

The temple was dark, and lit by burning braziers and candles on the altar.

"Ah," said Maramal as she walked in, and smiled. "At last! The blushing bride!"

She had not been blushing before, but she felt her face heat up at once.  _Everyone_  was looking at her, and perhaps it was just her thief’s instinct, but she hated the feeling.

Nevertheless, she walked across the temple to take her place beside the altar.

"Let’s begin the ceremony," Maramal said, but she was only half-listening. She’d caught sight of Delvin’s face: openmouthed and wide-eyed, gazing at her awestruck. She was tempted to laugh, but something stopped her.

Instead, she gave him a faint smile, and saw the corners of his mouth turn up slightly.

Most days, the starry-eyed look on his face would have annoyed her, but just this once, she found herself feeling flattered.

—

"May they journey forth together, in this life and the next," Maramal said, "in poverty and prosperity, in joy and hardship."

She thought of the Guild’s glory days, and of the long years of all of them struggling to keep their heads above the water, and of Delvin’s grin when she’d come home from her most successful heist in ten years at least.

Maramal turned to Delvin. “Do you agree to be bound together, in love, now and forever?”

"I, ah," Delvin said, and gulped. "I do. Now and forever."

The priest turned his gaze to her. “And do you, too, agree?”

She glanced at him, and then looked back at Delvin, and thought,  _gods damn this stupid heart of mine._

"I do," she said. "Now…and forever."

—

"Under the authority of Mara, the Divine of Love," Maramal said, "I declare this couple to be wed."

She knew she was blushing furiously, but it was some comfort to see that Delvin was just as red.

"I present to you these matching rings, blessed by Mara’s divine grace," the priest said. "May they protect each of you in your new life together."

Around them, everyone began to clap.

—

Delvin had to stretch up on his toes to kiss her, because with the heels on her slippers she stood a hand taller than him.

She leaned down to meet him halfway.

—

There was wine, afterwards, and mead, and food, and everyone wishing them both congratulations a lot.

"So," Delvin said, when she made her way back to him through the crowd. "Married, huh?"

"Married," she echoed, and made a face. "Gods have mercy."

He laughed at that, and her sneer became a grin. “On  _both_  of us,” he said, and drank deeply from his cup. 

"And no settling, remember," she said, digging her elbow into his side.

"No settling," he agreed, and she kissed him again.


End file.
